Call for 3rd round of applications in the context of the Special Programme to support institutional strengthening

Job opportunity: consultant sought by UN Environment to assist with national implementation plans & reporting, please see and apply by 25 March through the online UN recruitment system https://inspira.un.org.

On behalf of the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, hosted by the UN Environment Programme, it is a pleasure and an honour for me to be back visiting this beautiful country to address you today at the Bonn Challenge Guatemala 2018.

Allow me to start by commending the vision and long-term commitment of the Government of Guatemala for its pledge to restore 1.2 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2020, as a contribution to the global Bonn Challenge, which in turn also contributes towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the attainment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). This is not only an ambitious commitment but one which transcends the way all the people of Guatemala live and interact with nature, and how they are securing a better future for their children.

Forests are not just about trees – they are about life and prosperity - they provide us with water, food, medicine, clothing, shelter, energy or fuel, protection against floods, natural disasters, natural storage for carbon, attenuation of pollution, chemicals and recycling of nutrients, revenue from its resources, tourism, and the wonderful air that we breathe.

However, much of our forests around the world remains in a very poor state. We have failed to learn from past civilisations that revered the forests and this will not only cost us our communities and livelihoods but also our planet. Due to the world’s rapidly growing population and increasing demands for shelter, food and fuel production, as well as clearing of forests for agriculture, dams, mining, use of pesticides, mining, rapid urbanization, waste generation and infrastructure development continues to contribute to global scale land degradation and increase in pollution. In many countries, hundreds of square kilometers of land have a legacy of contaminated land resulting from mining, past industrial activity, intensive agriculture, chemical stockpiles and waste management. According to the 2015 status of the World’s Soil Resources Report, published by FAO, soil pollution is one of the ten major soil threats.

Estimates from the World Health Organization indicate that at least 12.6 million people died as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment in 2012, primarily from environmental risk factors, such as air, water and soil pollution, chemical exposures, climate change, and ultraviolet radiation.

We have good news however.. Another study has confirmed that living near nature and trees is good for human health — and can even save lives. A report by the Nature Conservancy finds compelling evidence that planting trees in cities can result in cooler temperatures and reduced air pollution for millions of urban residents.

Those efforts to reverse this worrying trend have been supported through action by the international community which has established global regimes and programmes to reverse land degradation, deforestation and minimize pollution.

Of these, I represent three global instruments, namely the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, which share a common objective to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of chemicals and wastes. The Basel Convention aims to reduce the transboundary movements of hazardous and other wastes, prevent and minimize their generation and promote their environmentally sound management. The Rotterdam Convention promotes shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among parties in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals, and contributes to the environmentally sound use of those hazardous chemicals by facilitating information exchange about their characteristics, and by providing for a national decision-making process on their import and export. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) aims to eliminate or reduce the releases of such chemicals into the environment. Ministers attending the High Level Segment of the Conference of the Parties to these three Conventions in May last year, which included the Minister of Environment from Guatemala, concluded that: “There can be no sustainable development without a commitment to a pollution-free planet, and this requires sound management of chemicals and waste.”

You would agree with me that chemicals, many of which are quite invisible, can be found everywhere in our daily lives as we have become dependent on them. The sound management of chemical wastes is an essential contributor not only to the environmental, but also social and economic dimensions of sustainable development; it represents an illustration of a truly key cross‐cutting issue which can provide practical solutions to global and local challenges.

Thus, its full integration in the global sustainable development policy is crucial for the societies to have clean air and water, sanitation, safe food, sustainable ecosystems and cities while promoting healthy lives, safe jobs and sustainable economic growth.

During the 3rd United Nations Environment Assembly ( UNEA 3) held last December, Ministers of Environment issued a declaration which committed to increasing research and development, targeting pollution through tailored actions, moving societies towards sustainable lifestyles based on a circular economy, promoting fiscal incentives to move markets and promote positive change, strengthening and enforcing laws on pollution and much more.

When we undertake land restoration, reafforestation and forest rehabilitation we generate a wide range of benefits–not only forest quantity and quality, but enhanced food security, improved air and water quality, reduced chemical pollution, climate change resilience, job creation, and more. And of course, land restoration can bring economic benefits such as tourism, eco- tourism, promotion of indigenous people’s alternative lively-hoods, agroforestry. There, we should acknowledge and continue to encourage the participation of the private sector, NGOs and local governments.

In closing, allow me to thank once again the Government and the people of Guatemala, for this long term investment in their environment and people, and for their warm welcome! Thank you Vice-President Cabrera, Minister Alfonso for your leadership and commitment to this important initiative, and you can count on my support and that of my organization in this important endeavor.

Thank you to the government of Germany, to the International Conservation Union for Nature and the Rainforest Alliance for your support and commitment towards this important initiative.

ENFORCE: Illegal traffic experts meet in Geneva

Activities

The life-cycle approach to chemicals and waste is a key element to protecting soils from pollution.

BRS contributes to Global Soils Symposium in Rome

BRS Secretariat staff are contributing to the Global Symposium on Soil Pollution, at FAO headquarters from 2 to 4 May 2018, co-organised by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and its Global Soil Partnership (GSP), the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS), BRS Secretariat, UN Environment and the World Health Organization (WHO). The event is seen as a common platform to discuss and elaborate the latest information on the status, trends and actions (both scientific and political) on soil pollution and its threatful consequences on human health, food safety and the environment.

According to BRS Executive Secretary, Rolph Payet, “the Symposium comes at an opportune time when more and more soils are being polluted. In response, the international community is strengthening its commitments to beat pollution, implement sound management of chemicals and wastes, tackle climate change, and work towards zero hunger”.

A new World Customs Organisation initiative, known as Operation DEMETER IV, starts in May 2018, to monitor and control cross-border movement of waste in maritime transportation, targeting illegal waste shipments.

A new global World Customs Organisation (WCO) initiative, called Operation DEMETER IV, will be launched in May 2018 to monitor and control cross-border movement of waste in maritime transportation, targeting illegal waste shipments from waste-producing regions and countries to destination countries and regions.

The Operation will be conducted under the guidance of the WCO Secretariat, in close cooperation with China Customs and the WCO Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Asia and the Pacific. The BRS Secretariat will provide assistance for this new initiative.

BRS Secretariat Says ‘Yes to Less’

Towards the sound management of wastes in the Arabic-speaking countries

Interview between Charlie Avis, Public Information Officer for the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, and Professor Moustafa Kamel, Director of the Basel Convention Regional Centre in Cairo, Egypt

Charlie Avis (CA): Good morning Mostafa and greetings from Geneva. Thank you for answering my questions which aim to shed light on the work you are doing to support the sound management of chemicals and waste across the Arabic-speaking countries.

Mostafa Kamel (MK): Thank you, Charlie, we are delighted to be featured.

CA: Firstly, please tell us a little bit about the Regional Centre (RC) itself. Where are you housed, how many staff do you have, and when was the RC established: basically how did the RC come about?

MK: Of course I would like first to introduce myself; my name is Prof. Moustafa Hussein Kamel, the Director of BCRC-Egypt. Beside being BCRC-Egypt Director, I am a Professor at the Faculty of Science, Cairo University, in Egypt.

Regarding BCRC-Egypt, BCRC-Egypt is a regional centre that facilitates the implementation of the multilateral Environmental agreements in 22 Arab states in North Africa and West Asia. The conference of parties of the Basel convention adopted decision VI/9 to establish BCRC-Egypt in Egypt. The Government of Egypt has signed the framework agreement with the Secretariat of the Basel Convention for the legal establishment of the centre, and it is now hosted within one of the most outstanding academic and research institutes in the region; the Cairo University, since 2004.

BCRC-Egypt has a unique issue than all the regional centres around the world, that it serves countries in two continents, Asia and Africa. This adds richness to the knowledge and experience which may be generated from interacting with the 22 Arab states.

Following the ratification of the Framework Agreement by the Egyptian Parliament in 2005, BCRC-Egypt had its own structure and bank account with flexibility to assign part-time consultants and administrative staff for implementing projects and other capacity building activities. The BCRC-Egypt structure includes a Steering Committee of the Centre (CSC) with membership of the representatives of four rotating member countries (currently Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Bahrain and Djibouti), the host country, Egypt, the representative of the Secretariat of the Basel Convention, The representative of the Arab League, President Cairo University (Observer), Vice President for Environmental Affairs, Cairo University (Observer) and the Director of BCRC-Egypt.

CA: Now, and at the risk of generalisation, what are the main constraints or challenges to protecting health and environment in the region from the harmful effects of toxic chemicals and waste?

MK: Charlie, The Chemicals and waste issue has become a very hot topic around the world for its environmental, economic and health impact of course. Currently, there is a great global need to address that issue and try to find a solution for it, especially with the less developing countries. Of course, I am aware that the international bodies such as the UN, the UNDP, the UNEP and Multilateral Environmental agreements Secretariat has been exerting great efforts to assist all the countries, especially the less developing ones in achieving the sound management of chemicals and waste. However, I still believe there is a role, which the regional centres like BCRC-Egypt, should play in order to enhance those efforts and maximize the benefit of the less developing countries from them.

Serving 22 Arab states makes their needs and conditions vary according to their political, economic, environmental and developmental circumstances. This huge variations make the achieving the sustainable development more difficult, which requires more efforts from all the stakeholders, beside BCRC-Egypt of course.

CA: Of these, which would you say is the main priority theme, or core business, for the Centre?

MK: Actually, BCRC-Egypt vision is to be a credible Regional Centre capable of providing Quality Sound Management of Hazardous Wastes services and consultations acknowledged by the 22 member Arab countries, BRS and the COP. While its mission, is to provide services for implementation of the Basel Convention to the Arab Countries. We, in BCRC-Egypt, have been always communicating with the Arab states we serve, to explore their needs that require the intervention of BCRC-Egypt to enhance their implementation of those countries to the multilateral environmental agreements. Examples of those needs are:

Legal drafting.

National reporting to BRS.

Hazardous waste (HW) management

Control of illegal HW transboundary movements

Management of medical waste.

Planning, designing, and managing HW disposal/recycling facilities.

Development of HW inventories.

Management and/or recycling of specific waste

Analytical HW identification and classification.

CA: Marine litter is gaining ever-greater visibility as a global and regional problem, and was the subject of significant attention at the recent U.N. Environment Assembly last month in Nairobi. Your region shares several vitally important marine environments. How is the Centre responding to these challenges, and do you see hopes for progress?

MK: BCRC-Egypt has always been working on updating its mandate according to the Arab states needs and the new environmental updates that come on the surface through the concerned international organizations Caring about the marine sector is one of the sustainable development goals which was adopted by the UN in 2015. Still, even before that, it has been an important issue for all the Arab states that have important marine environments. Therefore, BCRC-Egypt has been encouraging the Arab states before and after 2015 on taking the most feasible measures to protect its marine environments according to the international standards. We always receive very promising cooperative responses from the Arab states.

CA: The Centre has a long tradition and proud record and has clearly achieved a lot, but is there a single achievement of which you are most proud?

MK: BCRC-Egypt through the past few years focused its efforts on strengthening the regional cooperation of Arab states in hazardous waste management and trans-boundary control which should support compliance with the Basel Convention in the Arab states, inspite of the political instability facing few States in the region.

Accordingly, through the past five years, BCRC-Egypt conducted a total of 28 activities, 19 workshops (18 Regional and 1 National in Egypt), 9 Trainings (7 Regional (2 “Hands On” trainings in Nigeria and Finland) and 2 National in Tunisia and Lebanon). All the activities focused on the capacity building, knowledge sharing and technology transfer among the Arab States. Also, BCRC-Egypt signed 3 MoUs with Regional Centres of Basel and Stockholm convention in China, India and Indonesia, in order to enhance collaboration and synergy between the regional centres of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAS).BCRC-Egypt initiated cooperation with national, regional and international NGOs, out of its faith of the common responsibility of all stake holders for how our environment could be better. Finally, BCRC-Egypt has completed, with the help of international professional experts, a draft for e-waste legislation, as guidance for the Arab states in e-waste management. BCRC-Egypt aims to translate the legislation into English language, to allow discussions with Parties worldwide.

CA: Our readers might like to know you have active communications platforms such as the Centre’s facebook and twitter accounts. How important is social media for explaining your work to a wider audience?

MK: BCRC-Egypt managed to maintain and update its website to include all the news, activities and structure of BCRC-Egypt and all the international entities that are related to BCRC-Egypt areas of interest (bcrc-egypt.com). The website provides users with all the multilateral environmental agreements (Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam) documents and guidelines. Also the website can provide its users with information related to other relevant conventions and issues, such as Minamata Convention, the SAICM and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which were adopted by the UN in 2015 to achieve the 2030 Agenda. Also BCRC-Egypt continued its communication with the Arab members through social media, such as Facebook (www.facebook.com/BCRCEgypt.OfficialPage), twitter (www. twitter.com/bcrcegypt) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/user/bcrcegypt). On the other side, the media and the press (local and regional) have followed BCRC-Egypt activities due to the importance of the topics addressed in those activities on environment. Finally, BCRC-Egypt issued many non-periodic newsletters in Arabic language which summarized some of its activities.

CA: Thank you, for your time and for your answers, and for sharing your insights.

MK: Thank you, Charlie.

and if you need any further information on our centre and its activities, or would like to sign-up to receive our newsletter please go to our website www.bcrc-egypt.com

With funding from Switzerland, e-waste experts meet in Geneva 17 to 19 April, to further develop Technical Guidelines

BRS, together with UN Environment, the ILO and the ITU amongst others, is part of a new coalition of UN organisations formed at the recent WSIS2018 Forum to achieve a shared goal of tackling the ever-growing issue of electronic waste.

Towards the sound management of chemicals and waste in the Caribbean

Your Excellency, the honourable Camille Robinson - Regis, Minister of Planning and Development of Trinidad and Tobago
Excellencies and distinguished guests,
Ms. Jewel Batchasingh, Acting Director of the Basel Convention Regional Centre for the Caribbean,
Distinguished participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a pleasure and an honour to have been invited to address you during the opening ceremony of this high-level forum on “Policy and Programmatic Approaches to Sustainable Integrated Waste and Chemicals Management in Trinidad and Tobago. I wish I could be there in person with you, however I am also thankful to the wonders of modern technology that has allowed us to bridge the distance gap enabling me to join you from Geneva.

In its report released last October, the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health found that “Pollution is the largest environmental cause of disease and premature death in the world today. Diseases caused by pollution were responsible for an estimated 9 million premature deaths in 2015—16% of all deaths worldwide— three times more deaths than from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined and 15 times more than from all wars and other forms of violence.”

These figures are of great concern, we live in a fast-changing world, surrounded with potential environmental threats that affect us and our future generations on a daily basis. By the middle of the 21st century 9000 million human beings are expected to generate over 13000 tons of waste, that is about 20 percent more than that generated in 2009. This increase in waste generation is most apparent in urban areas. Today more than 50 per cent of the world’s population lives in cities and by 2050 this number is expected to rise to around 70 per cent. Small Island Developing States are no exception.

At least 10% of the 100 million tons of plastic we use every year end up in the oceans. This is the equivalent to the weight of 700 billion plastic bottles. Put on tops of each other these bottles would reach further than the sun. But they are not going to the sun, they are going into our oceans and will stay there for a long time affecting nature’s ecosystems and our lives.
Although Chemicals and waste issues have been underplayed in the environmental agenda in the past, times are changing fast. The sustainable management of chemicals and waste is now seen as a fundamental cornerstone of the objectives in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development where the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions are highlighted as the key legally binding instruments whose implementation contributes towards achieving by 2030 all the goals of the 2030 agenda.

As part of the key players contributing towards the implementation of these three conventions is the network of 22 regional centres for capacity-building and the transfer of technology which have been established under the aegis of the Basel and the Stockholm Conventions, one of which is your host today, the Basel Convention Regional Centre for the Caribbean or BCRC Caribbean as it is more commonly known.

Since establishment in October 2004 when its Framework Agreement was signed between the Government of Trinidad and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention on behalf of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, the BCRC- Caribbean has played a fundamental role providing capacity-building and assistance to 13 countries in the region. More recently under the able leadership of the outgoing Director, Mr. Ahmad Khan, the centre demonstrated that it has the required technical know-how in the fields of wastes and chemicals, playing a key role in fostering the coordinated implementation of the chemicals and wastes conventions in the Caribbean. It is worth noting that the Centre has been successful in mobilizing more than 20 million USD for activities and projects in the last couple of years. As you know the negotiations are now ongoing on the GEF 7, thus I take the opportunity to invite all the SIDs in the region to ensure that SIDS issues are reflected and the GEF has enough resources to implement the Conventions.

I want to highlight that this region is very lucky to have a regional Centre that caters for the needs of SIDs, providing assistance for the implementation of the conventions and which is actually in a SID. There is only one other such regional Centre amongst our network of centres and that is the one for the Pacific located in Samoa. SIDs in the African region are not that lucky, they are served by centres located in the continent.

The Conference of the Parties at its meeting in 2015 recognized the achievements of the centre and evaluated its performance, placing it along-side the top performing regional centres. We expect this trend will continue under the leadership of the Acting Director Ms. Jewel Batchsingh and that it will be recognized by the Conference of the Parties at its next meeting in May 2019 when it evaluates again the performance of its regional centres.

Ladies and gentlemen, over the past 20 years the BCRC Caribbean has demonstrated through its activities its dedication towards the achievement of the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, this is also testimony of the commitment the Government of Trinidad Tobago has towards the region and the world to implement the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions as well as the Minamata Convention and SAICM. I look forward to continuing strengthening our collaboration as we Continue to implement the chemicals and wastes conventions.

Before I finish, I want to invite you to celebrate! To celebrate today the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the Stockholm Convention for Cuba! And to celebrate more than 20 years of activities of the BCRC.
It only rests for me to wish you the best in your work in this High-level Forum over the next 2 days and I look forward to meeting you all in person in the near future.